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Cervidae Odocoileus Hemionus A cooking odyssey

• Jeff Shragge, Kyle Spikes, Zane Jobe,
• and Cam Snow
• School of Earth Sciences,
• Stanford University

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Overview

• Deer Biology 101
• Preparation
• Cooking
• Eating

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Deer-scription

• A tan or reddish-brown in the summer and
  greyish-brown in the winter, the belly, throat,
  nose band, eye ring and insides of the ears are
  white. There are black spots on the sides of the
  chin. The antlers have individual tines that grow
  upward from each of the main beams.

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Deer-stribution

• Lives in a wide variety of habitats such as
  coniferous forests, desert shrubland, grassland
  with shrubs and the mixed boreal forests of the
  north.
• Favors openings in these areas, browsing on
  shrubs and twigs (and grass and herbs at times).
• In summer they tend to migrate to higher
  elevations and move to lower elevations with less
  snowfall in the winter.
• Winter range is often shared with elk,
  white-tailed deer and domestic cattle.

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Overview

• Deer Biology 101
• Preparation
• Cooking
• Eating

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Preparation - Step 1/7

• In this day in age with chronic wasting disease
  and lyme disease, all hunters should wear gloves.
  In photo 1, the deer is laid on its back, hind
  legs spread, and a small incision is made around
  the genitals moving up towards the chest in a
  vertical line. Be careful not to puncture the
  body cavity at this point.

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Preparation - Step 2/7

• Slowly skin the deer back away from your
  mid-incision line 4 to 6 inches on either side.
  This will decrease your chances of getting hair
  inside the body cavity and on the meat.

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Preparation - Step 3/7

• After you have made your incision up to the
  sternum, you may now start at the genitalia and
  carefully cut through the body cavity and move
  upward. A gut hook is a great way of opening the
  body cavity without cutting the intestines. If
  you do not have a gut hook, you can use one
  finger next to the knife to lift up skin giving
  you space between the knife blade and the
  intestines.

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Preparation - Step 4/7

• You will find in older deer the sternum is
  difficult to cut through, and a larger knife will
  be helpful. For the most part, a deer can be
  skinned and de boned with a 4 inch fixed blade
  knife.

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Preparation - Step 5/7

• After opening the body cavity, one can reach
  inside and begin cutting away the lungs and heart
  away from the body cavity. All organs as in a
  human are attached by the peritoneum. In the
  picture to the right, the heart is being cut away
  and saved. The heart is very tender and edible
  when cooked. As in Native American tradition,
  eating the heart of the deer was to have high
  spiritual significance. All parts of this deer
  can be used and Survive Outdoors strongly
  discourages trophy hunting only.

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Preparation - Step 6/7

• After the intestines and organs are removed, the
  deer should be taken back and thoroughly rinsed
  out. A saw is beneficial in cutting the pelvis
  bone to allow better cleaning access to the
  rectal and bladder area.

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Preparation - Step 7/7

• Before processing, if the temperature is 45
  degrees or less, it is beneficial to age the deer
  for a day or two leaving the skin on. This is
  done by hanging the deer upside down in a cool
  environment. Again, we need to stress the
  importance of irrigating the body cavity. A
  garden hose works well, as well as propping the
  body cavity open with a stick to allow airflow.

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Overview

• Deer Biology 101
• Preparation
• Cooking
• Eating

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In the Kitchen - I
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Venison Marinade

• 1 ea Lemon, juice of
• 1/2 c Vinegar, wine
• 1/4 tsp Tarragon
• 2 ea Onions, sliced
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• 1/2 c Water
• 2 tsp Salt
• 2 ea Bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp Pepper, black
• 1/2 c Tomato catsup
• 1 ea Garlic clove, crushed
• Mix ingredients in a large bowl. Place meat
  therein and turn several times. Cover. Marinade
  for from 2 hours to 48 hours, dependent upon your
  assessment of tenderness and flavor. Save
  marinade for soups, gravies, or later use with
  another meat.

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Deer Rub

• Rub the roast down with lard or other oil and
  sprinkle generously with a mixture of 1 T. salt,
  2 t. each garlic and onion powder, 1 t. each
  ground bay, ground thyme and fresh ground black
  pepper.
• Place on a rack over a shallow pan with 1/4" of
  water to keep the first drippings from burning.
• Put on rotisserie and baste occasionally with
  juices or lard.
• Remove when the center reaches 140 and let sit
  for 10-15 minutes for the juices to set.
• You can de glaze the pan juices and correct the
  seasonings. Slice thinly across the grain.
  Venison should not be cooked past medium rare.

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In the Kitchen - II